Riku's Journey
by Kilameida
Summary: Riku, stranded alone in the Realm of Darkness. Sora, trapped in the realm of light.A KH3 fic with Riku as the main character. T for some gore.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! I'm finally back to writing after a _5- fuggin-month _break! Whew.

I'd love to kill my writer's block, but hey, I can't blame it. Everyone has it once in a while.

Several things to know before I start:

1. This is a short introduction. I'm going to try for a third fic, _Duelist._

2. My _other _fic is currently on hiatus, because cleaning that thing up is going to take a long time.

3. The mechanics of this story:

Travel by Corridor of Darkness takes at most 5 minutes. By Gummiship, the longest it takes is three hours, assuming that there are no enemies that interrupt the travel. Using a glider takes about as much time, and using the star shard takes about a minute to travel from one world to another, regardless of destination (I'm assuming that the star shard acts based on a teleport mechanic.

Combat is going to be a little different. Most enemies do not suffer cuts/bruises. They are made out of essence (well, how the heck am I going to make combos connect ?) Essence is basically flesh, blood, and bone into one. Whenever someone takes a hit, they bleed their essence away. When characters with essence die, they disappear (characters made out of essence are either nobodies or heartless. Y'know, DEAD stuff.) Characters without essence (Sora, Riku, anyone that's living) bleeds and dies normally.

Also, while I don't like crossovers, elements from other stories will occasionally pop into the story. Here, I'll give you a preview:

_Riku pointed his Keyblade randomly, jabbing into empty space now and then, like a blind man trying to get a feel for his surroundings. After a while, he found a spot that seems to satisfy him. He thrust the Keyblade into that spot, and turned the weapon._

_Bright light shines, and a Keyhole in the air appeared, and through it, he can see..._

Better stop before I get too far, but kudos to you if you recognize where it came from.

Also, reminder: Sora will NOT be the main character here. Although he does get side stories... because he's just that important.

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the elements from another series that I decide to incoporate into this story. If I did own Kingdom Hearts, then I'd order my staff to make a movie out of it.

Chap 1: Sunset Again

* * *

><p>You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. ~<strong>Arlo Guthrie<strong>

**Darkness rising...  
><strong>

She awoke to the sound of the waves rippling in the Dark Ocean.

Aqua groaned. Her black and blue, high-collared halter top no longer felt comfortable; she felt like her ribs are being squeezed in. Her black shorts and leggings felt stiff, and for a moment she thought that she was paralyzed. However, as the chills kicked in, she realized that they were almost frozen solid.

Muttering softly, she managed to move her frozen fingers enough to cast a full-bodied fire spell. As the last of the ice fell off, she wondered how long was she asleep.

Time held no meaning in the Dark Meridian. She could have been asleep for a second or an eternity, and still wake up feeling like she slept for a solid nine hours. This made sleeping quite dangerous - sleep too long, and if the freezing cold doesn't kill you, the Heartless, randomly popping out, might devour your heart. But she didn't have a choice- she was trapped, unable to leave the darkness, and-

She was snapped out of her reverie by the voice of her companion. "Welcome back to the land of living."

She stared at the hooded face. She can just make out the outline of a neatly-trimmed blonde goatee, before the moonlight shifted, extinguishing what little light remains inside the hood, plunging his face into darkness. "Nice to see you too, Ansem."

Like herself, Ansem was trapped in the Realm. Attempting to transform Kingdom Hearts into data form, the machine that he used overworked itself and exploded, throwing himself into the Realm of Darkness. He wandered about for a while, luckily avoiding the swarms of Heartless that swept itself over the Dark Meridian over and over again. Eventually, he came to this spot in the Meridian, and he settled down there.

Aqua hadn't met him until recently. She had been wandering about the Dark Realm, thrown into it eleven years ago. She managed to find a safe spot, in which she settled in for nine years, using her magic to sustain herself via deep hibernation. The heartless did not disturb her... until her ninth year, where she was awoken due to her body sensing another Keyblade Wielder nearby.

She started searching for him or her, glad to find another companion stuck in the realm with her- and possibly with the power to get herself out. Unfortunately, after two months of fruitless searching, she sensed that the man/woman she was looking for disappeared into the heartless breeding ground, where Heartless spawns from in the realm. She mourned, realizing that even she, whom managed to defeat Xehanort himself, could not have possibly survived in the valley.

She started wandering again, and finally settled down in the Dark Meridian.

She smiled, a half-bent smile that could best be described as sardonic. She was quite certain that her magic was quite unparalleled in this universe. And yet she could do nothing but observe her partner approaching the dark water's edge.

He bent down, pulled his hood up, and started drinking from the dark water. While in the Dark Meridian, he explain, the water sustains you, giving you no need for food and keeping you alive at the same time. He found that out the _first _time that he was here, and that was as unpleasant - or even worse, due to lack of human companionship.

He took another deep gulp, then motioned for his friend to follow him down to the water's edge. Feeling the hunger in her own guts, Aqua complied...

A strong pulse of darkness shook her to the very core. Ansem spat, then choked on the water he was drinking.

Aqua scanned the perimeter of their area. Surely the Heartless couldn't have invaded... but the pulse she felt was far, far too strong to be created by any Heartless. In fact, the only one that...

She saw shadowy movements at the corner of her eyes. Acting upon instinct, she struck out at her assailant with her magic, throwing a fireball at it. The fireball soared wide, and the creature raised a burly fist, ready to smash her head in. With unerring grace, she cartwheeled away, and the creature stumbled, unable to recover its balance. She drew her Keyblade, and quickly slashed at it once, twice, then a stronger slash to finish her combo. The creature fell, its essences quickly burning up in purple flames.

Despite her short victory, she still felt scared. She recognized what it was...

"Help!"

Her companion's cry jolted her back to her senses. Ansem is surrounded by three wiry purple creatures, surrounding him like a wolf pack closing in for the kill. One of the braver ones swiped at the man. Ansem jumped back, the pointed edge missing him by a short centimeter. He stumbled, lost his balance, then fell. The circle grew tighter as each of the mysterious creatures began to move in for the kill...

"Ansem!"

Far too wise to waste time, she ran, leapt, and landed in the middle of the circle. The creatures struck. She held up her arms and cast a quick spell, trusting her impeccable timing to save them from a grisly death. Not a second too soon, a sphere of hexagonal panels of light blossomed around the duo. The attacking creatures collided head on with the sphere. The seemingly fragile shield held, and convulsed; then the shield pulsed, sending out a seemingly- weak spray of light.

However, when the spray collided with the aggressors, they were lifted off their feet and knocked back far away.

Ansem pushed himself off the ground into a kneeling position. "Here..." he heaved, exhausted, "..I was... thinking ... that... you... could've been... better than that."

Aqua heaved a breath. "It's been a while since I fought."

Her companion stared at the rapidly disappearing remains of his assailants. "What are those creatures? They are no Heartless nor Nobody!"

"Old man... I don't even want to _think _about how they are here." Aqua scanned the perimeter for more hostiles.

"Then what are they?"

"They are..."

* * *

><p><strong>People dying...<strong>

Purplish shadows were moving across the ground.

The old man didn't notice. He was too busy to notice.

He wore thick blue robes, reaching down all the way to obscure his feet. He was tall, and although the thick robes made him look large, he was actually rather spindly beneath them. He wore a thick, pointy wizard's hat, adorned with silver stars. Once he was asked why did he bother to wear the many thick fabric. He answered that where he lived, it was freezing.

He simply didn't expect it to be this cold.

The man was _frozen_ in place- arms and limbs covered in a dusty mote of ice that restricted his movement greatly. His face remains mostly untouched, and he can feel something in his fingers, but the rest of his body has gone numb. He tried to focus. Along with the rest of his body, he can feel the numbing cold in his brain, leaving little room to think of a plan, a spell, _anything, _to help him escape from this predicament. He tried to focus his attention on his captor, fiery black pupils never leaving his face.

A grunt of laughter escaped his captor's lips. Internally, the old man snarled.

"Pfft... which _idiot _named this guy a master?" The voice was cynical and deep, the voice of someone at the edge of madness but not quite there yet.

His captor wore purplish armor covering his whole body. However, instead of steel-hard immobile protection, the armor looked organic - fleshy strips of fabric that covered everything from his shoulders to his shoes. A black symbol is emblazoned on his chest- however, the old man's eyes are focused on his younger captor's face - which he can see nothing of, save two scornful orbs staring back at him.

His captor held up his right arm. Transparent shadows swirled around it. Instead of black, however, they shadows are colored a sick, chaotic shade of purple, and are more reminiscent of fleshy tentacles than wispy ethereal projections.

"I really should finish this right here and right now..."

The shadows wrapped around a shaft of invisible thin air, moving horizontally, forming a pointed, spiky, tip. The shadows no longer look transparent, instead, they seem to hold something inside them - then abruptly, they dissipated, and the old man's captor held a Keyblade in his hands. The teeth and head are black with a red outline and possesses a round, cog-like shape. The handle is red and the guard has the same coloration and cog-like shape as the teeth. The shaft is predominantly colored in shades of grey and sports a copper-colored gear in the center, with two intersecting, black chains wrapped around it. Two more chains are wrapped around the base of the shaft in a similar fashion. And it has two, blue reptilian eyes- eyes that twitched back and forth, as if it is still alive.

His captor drew his weapon back, and slashed.

Expecting death, the old man muttered a quick prayer.

He was surprised when the weapon chopped into the ice covering his cheek with a small tinkling noise, as if the man simply tapped a spoon against his cheek- a razor sharp spoon.

"But I find torturing you much, much, more satisfying."

The old man's captor laughed manically. The old man had enough. He had found out what he was after - right now, he needed to escape and tell the Keyblade Masters about this man's return. He channeled what little magical energy - or mana, as youngsters these days call it - into his body. The ice on his shoulder cracked. His captor froze. "What -" but that was all he got out before the old man engulfed himself with grand, crimson flames that reached the dark inky sky.

"You... do not... _ever_... underestimate... me." spoke the old man through gritted teeth.

The younger man simply shrugged. "I suppose I'll torture someone else later..."

He disappeared.

The old man stared, then spun round, looking for his assailant. _Incredible speed..._

"Over here." Two monotone words with great- and alarming- meaning.

He looked up.

And he saw the blade of a Keyblade swinging down at him from the skies, a black blur growing ever larger...

He stepped back in time, and the deadly weapon missed its mark by inches, cracking the floor. The younger man swore, then quickly brought his blade up in a quick combination of an uppercut and a stab, aiming for his throat. The elder man simply stepped back, and his head hit a wall, trapping him in a corner. He cursed. He broke the single rule of combat:

"Never panic. Feh, and I thought THAT was basic," said the younger man, slashing at the elder one horizontally. He stared for a while, then turned back and ducked, narrowly dodging a fireball burned straight through the wall behind him. He growled.

"Right, playtime's over..."

He _sank _into the ground. The old man's eyes widened, and he quickly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a powerful uppercut that followed his captor's re-emergence from the ground, and put up a golden shield of light- just in time, as his captor dashed towards him and slashed down. The shield resisted, then broke into golden pieces of light, but not before giving its conjurer a chance to escape. The elder man pointed at the golden shards, which hurled themselves towards the man in the purple armor... before he disappeared again with a blur, only to reappear in front of the old man. Before he can react, the figure punched the man in the guts with enough force to lift him off his feet and land several meters away. The elder man doubled over.

"Your only weapon's magic, eh?" growled his captor. "Let's see you fight without them..."

Confused, the elder man looked down on his stomach. Dark, purple flames burns on them, and though he felt no pain, he can feel his magic locked out. He was helpless. He doubled over. A few decades ago, all he needed to beat this youngster is to snap his fingers. Age, he reflected, really does have an effect on himself.

But it can't end here...

After all, who else can unlock the powers of the Keyblade? While the King is stronger than he is, he does not have the necessary knowledge to unlock the true potential of the Keyblade... his fingers grazed the burning purple mark on his chest. He needed to at the very least transfer what remains of his knowledge to the three Keyblade wielders. He looked back to his manic captor.

But how can he, when his magic is gone and diminished, and he has no more tricks up his sleeve?

He had to try. As his captor thrust his weapon forwards, he didn't dodge it.

The blade struck him straight through the chest, going through the burning symbol. Pain filled him, pain that he had never felt before, pain that he didn't even know was possible. Miraculously, however, he managed to keep a level head despite of the pain, and he can tell that the seal is somehow removed, and he is free to re-use magic again.

As stars danced around the edge of his vision, and his soul struggling to float out of a deep, dark abyss that seeks to imprison him forever, he crafted his final spell...

The younger man removed the blade with a sickening squelch. Any moment now, he was going to strike again...

The elder man started to panic. He stopped caring about his life - his sole purpose in the seconds remaining to him is to finish this last piece of magic, and he is running out of time. Desperately, he tried to hasten the process, trusting his almost-habitual magic casting to take care of all the flaws in his work.

The man drew his arm back...

He was truly panicking now. He was that close to finishing the spell...

The younger man struck first, a horizontal slash that tore the body through the waist, cutting through sinew and bone. Faster than lightning, he managed two more slashes that struck the now-detached upper body, effectively mutilating the arms off. He slammed his weapon into the ground, creating a dark shockwave that ripped through the lower part of the decapitated body, tearing it into shreds.

He stepped back, surveying the mutilated body, before flashing a slight grin. He loved the smell of blood in the morning.

"There's no way you'll come back from that..."

The air behind the man rippled. Inky darkness flared out, forming a Corridor of Darkness. The man stepped back. He was finished.

He did not notice the three glowing orbs that rose from the mutilated remains of the master of magic, that flew away into the stars...

* * *

><p>Cheers!<p>

I'll update around next week or so, but it will be shorter than this, because of school and meh.

So, whaddya think? I made it dark... hmm... should I change the rating to M? It IS a little gory... but nothing compared to the other fics I've read. Tell me if I should upgrade the rating or not.

The first person to spot who is the (painfully obvious) duo that fought in the second part... hmm... well, I dunno what I would give you. But the first person who found out what are the glowing orbs of light are for gets to pick a power for Riku to use! Nothing overrated, please.

I'll be out till next week. By then, I hope we get to where the real adventure begins.

Kila, signing out!


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah, I'm back.

I can here y'all screaming, WHAT TOOK YA SO EFFING LONG?

Well, I had a bit of a writer's block for the next part, but I managed to resolve it.

Here's the next chapter...

Also: Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, however...

* * *

><p>"<em>Goodbye, Roxas... See you again. I'm glad... I got to meet you. Oh... and of course, Axel, too. You're both my best friends. Never forget. That's the truth.<em>"

Xion, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

* * *

><p><em>She saw a brown, spiky-haired boy wearing a white T-Shirt and short, red pants idly playing in the beaches of Destiny Islands, chasing a silver-haired boy with a yellow collared shirt and blue jeans, while a red-haired girl with short hair stopping at her shoulders laughed at their antics, only to fall off the bent palm tree she was sitting on and dirtying her red dress. The two boys stopped their small game, and rushed over to help her, but she accepted only the help of the brown-haired boy, staring into his eyes and smiling, saying with her limited vocabulary that "I'm okway..." <em>

_She saw the brown-haired boy grown up now, holding a small, wooden toy sword, desperately hacking away at blackened, shadows that seeks to consume him, to kill him, to claim his heart as their own. He hit the head of one of the creatures with his toy sword, and it broke, leaving him to ran away to the island where he and his firends used to play at when they were little. She saw the silver-haired boy staring off into the distance, and watched as his friend stared in horror as the silver-haired boy was consumed by the darkness, becoming the darkness, just as a flash of golden light buried itself in front of the ground just in front of the brown-haired boy..._

The girl with no name whimpered.

_She saw the boy slumped in an alleyway in an unknown town, shoulders and back hunched down, like a common beggar lurking in an unsuspecting alleyway too prideful to show his face to the world. She watched as a yellow dog sauntered over to lick his face, waking him up, and watched as he exited the small alley and went into a small, brightly-lit shop decorated with the words, "ACCESSORY"..._

_She saw the boy fighting a giant, knight-like Heartless, dodging and weaving with his two new companions as he valiantly fought against the metallic sweeping limbs that seek to tear him apart and consume his heart for its own. She saw the boy cutting off the Heartless's limbs, until only him and his exceptionally weary companions remained fighting a spinning torso and a floating head, which was dispatched with ease as he rushed towards it and sliced it clean in half..._

_She saw the boy traversing the levels of a grim, huge castle with the Heartless logo emblazoned on its side, and watched as he entered the heart of the castle itself, and watched him fight the silver-haired boy he once knew as his best friend, dealing the silver-haired boy blow after blow as the silver-haired boy's new outfit consisting of organic-looking fibers started to tear, revealing dark skin within, and how the brown-haired boy managed to defeat his erstwhile friend..._

_She saw the boy lifted up the silver-haired boy's weapon, and he stabbed himself in the heart with it, and pain unimaginable filled her, him. She saw her best friend being born as the brown-haired boy stabbed himself with the black shaft of the keyblade his best friend once wielded, and transformed into a heartless..._

She tried to cover her round ears and large, cobalt eyes, trying to shut off the thousands of memories that tries to assail her mind...

_She saw the boy pushing a huge, white door, and on the other side was his silver-haired friend too, and they pushed and pulled to try and close the imposing white doors, but to no avail, it was too big, it was too heavy..._

The girl with no name screamed. _Who am I? What am I?_

_She saw the boy and his two anthropomorphic companions fight their way up a never-ending set of stairs spiraling up into the darkness, as the darkness itself took shape and try to hamper the boy's progress, but fail because there's only one thing on the boy's mind, only one thing- _

The girl with no name remembers nothing. She only knows four words, which she screams at the top of her lungs, over and over and over again...

_She saw pearl white test tubes and valves, all emblazoned with the Nobody insignia – and a blonde-haired man hunched over a girl's body. On a table adjacent to the girl, lay a boy with striking similarity to the brown-haired boy that she saw previously, except that his hair is more bunched up and he has blonde instead of brown. She watched as the hunched-down blonde man raised his hands up, laughed a high, keening laugh, and shouted – "It works! The Replica lives!"_

_She saw the same girl – black, ebony hair cut shot just edging near her shoulders, and a round, smiling face adorned with cobalt blue eyes, wearing a black cloak that covered her entire body. She was accompanied with the blonde-haired boy, whom was wearing similar attire, and a tall, spindly, spiky-haired adult whom seemed much taller than they are, and they stared into the sunset while eating sky-blue ice cream..._

_She saw what she thought was the most handsome face in existence, and she was saddened, then, that they are on opposite sides, unable to reach out to each other. The man circled her warily, and despite wearing a blindfold, he seems to know exactly where she is, as the last thing she saw before passing out was the swish of a silver-colored strand of hair rushing past her..._

"Roxas! Axel! Riku! Help!"

* * *

><p>I'll update this chapter, because it's too short... look out for it in, say, three or four days.<p>

Anyways, please tell me what you think and review please!


	3. Chapter 3

Well, my beta reader gave me the thumbs up, so here's the next! I'm sorry I can't post more, but I can't write much (**** YOU EXAMS!)

Anyways, allow me to introduce to you, Vanitas1776! He's a really nice and kind guy whom, despite me never meeting him before, helped me a lot with my story. Sorry that I didn't include many of your ideas, but rest assured that ONE of them will come up.

Also, meet Kevin, my invaluable beta reader. He has no interest in fanfictions - and yet he's such an awesome friend that he actually helped me with this. Of course, the good writing may have things to do with it too...

Anyways, same as before: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

_"Cowards runs away from fear. Heroes tremble and whimper, but they faced the fear anyways."_

-Unknown

* * *

><p><strong>Destiny Islands<strong>

Riku opened his eyes.

He sat up, panting, and checked the clock on top of his nightstand. It was three in the morning. He cursed.

"That same nightmare again..."

He brushed his silver hair from his eyes as he rubbed them, trying to brush the weariness from his eyes. Something tells him that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight. He managed to drag his weary body towards his large, wooden wardrobe. He selected a black shirt and his yellow tank-top and removed them from the wardrobe. He also grabbed his usual pair of blue jeans. Eyes half-closed, he trudged towards the bathroom and was rewarded with the smack of his head hitting the still-closed wooden door. "Ow..."

He quickly opened the door, and rubbing his throbbing head, he washed his face. He felt more awake, and began to take his pajamas off, intending to change into the clothes he previously selected – and stopped when he saw his upper body on the mirror.

He never noticed it, but all the time he spent outside of Destiny Islands quickly shaped up his body. Most of his baby fat is gone now, and in place of the smooth belly he once had was hard muscle and sinew. His face seems to have a more lean angle to it, and his arm muscles grew ever-larger. He grinned slightly. He can understand the stares of the islanders when they returned to the islands, especially Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. Also, he was much taller now – in fact, bar perhaps Sora, he was the tallest child on the islands.

He snapped out of his reverie and continued to put on his clothes. Yawning, he then walked out of the bathroom, and then he opened his front door and stepped out into Destiny Island's cool night breeze.

It was rather cold out, and he quickly zipped his tank-top zipper up and felt an instant rush of warmth, only to be soon dissipated by the chilling night breeze. Sighing, he went for a walk down the main road, towards the beaches, hoping that he would get some peace of mind for his troubled soul. He was worried about tomorrow, to be sure – after all, he was leaving his home again – and he knew that unless he put his concerns for his home world aside, he wouldn't be able to focus on his next adventure, which could prove fatal for him. '_Effort without determination is, after all, useless,' _Ansem has once said, and he now repeated the words to himself.

Reaching the beach, he proceeded to stare at that small island where he and the rest of Destiny Island's children used to play on. He sighed, and the night breeze blew his hair seawards, obscuring his view in a curtain of silver hair. "I leave the Islands to protect it... but why does it feel so wrong? We just got back home, after all..." Sora may be determined, but him – he still tries to still his troubled heart.

He looked down at his bandaged left wrist.

_He moved._

_He suddenly grabbed the ebony Keyblade that lay besides him on the grey tarmac, and in one fluid movement, he managed to force his body into an awkward kneeling position, putting his weight on his left leg, like a coiled-up spring storing its energy. He then released that energy, quickly leaping forwards, ducking past the outstretched white blade, and slashed his keyblade – a long, smooth, horizontal arc that struck his opponent across the chest. The force of the blow lifted his opponent above the ground, and the black-cloaked figure fell to the ground. In his hand, his white Keyblade shimmered, then dissolved, disappearing in sparks of white light. _

_He held his black Keyblade tightly. He turned around, and faced the now-motionless body of his enemy, and approached it gingerly. His hood fell off, and he beheld a face that looks surprisingly similar to his sleeping friend. He upended his Keyblade, holding it in a reverse grip while raising it. His arm moved, and the Keyblade moved, falling down..._

_And sank into the purple tarmac right next to his enemy's face._

_He was to spare him, after all. What use is he, if he was killed? Besides, he reminds him too much of his erstwhile friend – _

"_Wha?"_

_The figure before him stood up, propping himself on the ebony Keyblade. Slowly, Riku started backing away. _

_His enemy struck. _

_He slashed left, and Riku stepped back in time, barely dodging the weapon he wielded a scant few seconds ago. His enemy slashed again – this time at his head- and Riku ducked, then slid away from him, jumping back to put some distance between them. He saw his enemy summoning his original weapon – a white Keyblade – and charging at him. He ducked and weaved again, but this time he was too slow – _

_The white Keyblade struck his left wrist, and made a sharp cracking sound – his wrist broke, and he slowly slumped to the ground, waiting for his opponent to deliver the final blow._

Ever since then, he wore the wristband. It didn't exactly hurt, but it disabled his left hand, and for a while he was forced to do everything one-handed. During battles, the pain always flared up – a little more every time, as if his excessive movements broke what little fragments of bone he had left. During his and Sora's final stand against the countless thousands of dusks that tried to finish them, he exhausted himself faster than Sora did due to the pain. Eventually, his body can no longer bear with the pain, and he allowed Sora to drag him away, into the Dark Meridian...

He looked down again at his wrist.

Thus far, two questions were bugging him:

Who was the girl that kept haunting him in his nightmares?

And, will his friends forgive him, and will he ever earn a chance to return, a chance to redeem himself?

The girl, in due course, he was confident he will encounter again. However – _he just got home_. His friends, perhaps, barely spared him glances – and he didn't mind, after all, he did deserve it – however, he wanted to stay back, to be able to once more mingle around them.

_The three of them walked down the Main Street of Destiny Islands, when they saw two figures, standing next to each other, marking the ground they stood on with water that dripped down from their bodies. One of them was a boy with red hair slicked back to form a tiny curl over his tanned forehead, and the other was a boy with blonde hair falling over his ears in equal measure. _

_And when they saw the little, weary group, they immediately dropped what they carried, and ran towards them. _

_Riku was the first to run towards them, heart in his mouth, begging forgiveness for all that he did to the islands – begging them to accept him again – _

_And they simply ran past him as if he wasn't there, and made a beeline for Sora and Kairi._

_Dejected, he slinked slowly back towards his house._

He was thinking of quitting – after all, what does he fight for anymore, when his home and his friends – his _former _friends – were gone? He looked towards the tiny islands where he and all the other children of the islands used to play on – and decided to head there. Perhaps he can find some answers there.

**Destiny Islands – Small Island**

The canoe rocked gently in the waves, as Riku jumped off it, and tied it to the wooden pier.

He took in a look at his surroundings, and almost a year's worth of memories.

Nothing has changed. The small playground islands seems to be unused during all the time that he and Sora was gone. He started forwards, and kicked up a small cloud of dust. Looking down, he observed a thin film of dust on the pier. He walked on, towards the sandy beaches, and then towards the old wooden shed next to the bridge, and he opened the door. Its hinges creaked loudly as he stepped inside the now – dusty shed.

He coughed, as dust fell kicked off the ground - he recalled him, Sora, and Kairi building this shed as little children, and he smiled. Back then, the adults helped, and he was happy to be there on the island, content with what he had. His late father always said: Be grateful with what is in front of you, lest you lose everything that is dear to you.

And he was right. He lost his friends, he lost his life...

He walked out of the shed, and he headed towards the tiny island with the bent palm tree, and he stared out at the waves in peace again. He know what he wanted - just some more time here, on this island, making amends.

"Hey."

Riku spun, and he saw Sora, and he smiled. "Can't anyone sleep here?"

"Not me. You've been having nightmares or something?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah..."

Sora walked over to the bent palm tree, and sat on it. He tapped the spot next to him twice, and Riku took this as an invitation to walk over there and sit next to him. They both felt the cool night breeze on their faces, and stared at the waves in peace for a while.

Riku was the first to break silence. "So... you're ready?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah... you?"

Riku sighed, and shook his head. "It's just that I want more time here. So that I can - "

"Yeah, I know."

Riku smiled wanly. "There's also this."

"What is it?"

"My left hand... it got injured and for some reasons, it just doesn't heal. Every time I do something excessive, it starts hurting."

Sora nodded. "So this is why you were holding back when we fought Xemnas..."

Riku grimaced. "Yeah... the pain was too much for me eventually..."

A flash of light shivered across the starry skies, and both boys looked up. Then, they turned to each other.

"Make a wish?" asked Riku.

Sora simply grinned, and closed his eyes. He must be wishing, thought Riku. I should make a wish too.

Just before his eyelids closed, he caught a streak of fire heading towards them.

"Sora!"

He tackled his friend, and the two fell on the ground, coughing, as the two objects impacted the ground around them. They immediately jumped up, and summoned their weapons - Kingdom Key and Way to Dawn appeared in flashes of light and dark, but they were immediately lowered. "I don't sense anyone," muttered Riku. They dispelled their weapons, and examined the two smoking holes in the ground.

Sora stepped fowards, and peered into the craters. There was a sun-shaped metallic pendant in the one nearest to him. He carefully approached it, and gently touched it. It gave no response. He looked towards Riku to see him doing the same, approaching his own crater. The boys nodded once, a silent agreement to each other, and both reached out and grabbed their pendants.

Nothing happened.

Riku emerged from his crater, holding a moon-shaped silver pendant. "What are these?"

"I dunno..."

Wear them.

The same thought flew into their heads at the same moment, and they looked at each other briefly before wearing their pendants.

Instantly, memories flew into their heads.

_Memories of an old wizard working gently in his studies, with a stern countenance overlooking a scroll, his hand busy writing and his mouth busy whispering small enchantments..._

_Memories of the same wizard dying in the bushes, cut off into a dozen tiny bits of flesh, each of it unrecognizable from each other... memories of the wizard's last thoughts, of teaching the two boys and the princess, and reaching out to his former pupil, warning him that HE has been resurrected, and that he must face this danger, and give the other two time..._

Riku snapped back to the present. He saw Sora looking at him, and they knew at once that they shared the same memories. "Yen Sid," breathed Sora. They looked at each other again, and saw the same unspoken agreement - they depart NOW, and hope that they reach Yen Sid before the terrible vision came true. The same hope that this was simply a view of a future that can change - that _they _can change.

Riku's right hand fizzled, and he saw sparks of darkness playing around them. He held them up in wonder. "Sora," he whispered. "I think I've got my darkness back. We can go to Twilight Town."

"Great! Let's get Kairi -"

"It's too dangerous. We're going on our own."

"But what about King Mickey? If he picks us up tomorrow and we're not there-"

"I know. We'll leave a message with Kairi... hmm..."

"I'll go," offered Sora. You go on ahead - just keep the corridor running.

He grinned. "Since yesterday. You?"

Riku stared at his left hand, and made a decision.

He tore off the bandage, and threw them into the water, where they stayed, floating in the waves.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>The last part, the island part, was completely my own and unread by my beta, so sorry if it's messy.<p>

I won't be writing for much due to exams, but don't worry, I actually have the next chapter planned out.

Well, c ya! And review! And if you can't, try to mention this story in a suitable website - I want people reading this. :P


	4. Broken Computer

I have a new computer now! It'll take a little while to get used to the keyboards and stuff, because this thing's so much darn bigger...

In any case, I'll try to update ASAP - once I shake these homeworks off my back.


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